There have been several drug raids in three single-family rental residences within a 400-foot radius of my Harrisburg neighborhood home.

I am appalled that these raids involved the same tenants each time. One very defiant dealer is still selling dope after three raids! The disrespect that these people have for the law is shocking. We do not want these people who share links with the drug underworld in our neighborhood.

Sheriff Strength, whom I admire, informed me that there are more than 800 known drug houses in Richmond County. Apparently, it is not uncommon for drug dealers to go right back into business after they have been arrested. If this is as unacceptable to you as it is to me, then together we can put an end to it.

The most underused legal tool in our government is civil forfeiture. If no-account slum lords feared losing the equity in their rental property, they would evict dope-dealing tenants promptly.

Please urge our district attorney, Danny Craig, to seize sleazy property now! This cry should resonate with particular interest in the ears of Summerville residents, because Harrisburg serves as a riff-raff buffer zone. If the decent people of Harrisburg are forced out, there no longer will be a buffer zone.

James "Butch" Palmer, Augusta